A Constant Camera Presence
Over on Blue 36, there's been a boom mike hanging over the table the entire time. There's one celebrity there who, we're sure, is used to that kind of attention - it's Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame.
Good to see that ESPN hasn't forgotten that we watch poker shows for the sitcom stars.
Ready For My Close-up
ReplyDeleteThere may be some observational bias here, but it seems like the number of all-ins dramatically increases when the ESPN cameras come into the room looking for action. Or maybe it's the dealers shouting, "All in, table 48!!!" with a little more oomph that gets your attention. One player was upset with his dealer when he didn't announce his all-in with enough volume. "You just cost me my TV time," he said, and was apparently serious.
(from PokerNews.com day 1c coverage)
And:
ReplyDeleteAlthough dealers aren't consistently using the "All In" paddles anymore to signal when a player goes all in and is called, they are announcing loudly whenever someone does, just in case ESPN is nearby.
Casino City Times writes about day 4:
ReplyDeleteDuring the first two hours the day, there was about one elimination every minute. And each bust out was carefully choreographed scene designed to ensure that the players were paid out the right amount of money and the television cameras could capture any dramatic moments.
Any time a player went all in and was called, a dealer yelled "all-in call" and waited for WSOP supervisor to reach the table. Once the WSOP supervisor was there, he would check with an ESPN producer to see if the television cameras wanted to film the hand.
ESPN has several producers roaming the aisles in the Amazon room, wearing earpieces and microphones. If the producer decided the hand needed to be filmed, he'd toggle his microphone and ask for a camera crew to come over. Once the crew was set up, the producer would give the signal that play could continue.
If the ESPN producer indicated that they wouldn't be filming the hand, the supervisor would then allow play to continue uninterrupted.
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To the credit of the WSOP staff and ESPN, players rarely had to wait more than minute to see what there fates would be...
Pokerati on who really runs the WSOP (when Phil Ivey's not playing):
ReplyDeleteSo, Level 19 played until…189 players remained and a random announcement came that play ended for the day. Huh? With 38 minutes left in the level, they were done for the day.
While straight answers are hard to come by, it is widely accepted that ESPN makes decisions like that. Dr. Pauly speculated that the ESPN featured table was the next one to break, and instead of going through the hassle of moving players and setting up new ones on the stage - attaching microphones, making sure they understand the hole card cameras, etc. - it was easier to end play for the day and start over on Day 5. Voila! It was done.
On Sunday, Phil Hellmuth earned a penalty for his behavior. It was overturned before the next day's play started. Was it overturned so that they could show more of him on TV? It wouldn’t be the first time the WSOP had been changed to get him on TV: see ESPN Expands WSOP Final Table To Fit Phil Hellmuth. Here’s what happened, according to PokerNews.com (see the end of day 5 and the beginning of day 6):
ReplyDeleteThey saw a flop of 9c Tc 7s and Hellmuth checked to Dragomir, who thought for a moment before firing a healthy bet of 300,000. Hellmuth sighed in disgust before folding As Kh face-up on the table.
Matusow laughed and said to Dragomir to show the bluff, and Dragomir flipped Td 4d! Matusow and the crowd roared in hysterics as Hellmuth jumped out of his seat and stormed around the room berating his opponent for calling his reraise with ten high.
"Listen buddy, you're an idiot!" screamed Hellmuth. "This is the Main Event and you are the worst player in history!" he continued as the crowd was loving every moment of the blow-up.
Dragomir's entourage continued to cheer as Hellmuth continued the barrage. The TD stepped in and issued a warning to Hellmuth to settle down...
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Everyone thought Phil Hellmuth ended the day just with a blow-up and a warning, but that's not the case. He continued to berate Cristian Dragomir for several minutes after the last hand we described and after floorperson Robbie Thompson issued him a warning. That prompted Thompson to summon supervisor Steve Frezer to the feature table. Frezer listened to Thompson's description of the situation and then assessed Hellmuth a one-orbit penalty to start Day 6.
At this point Phil Hellmuth had 721,000 chips. The blinds were 15,000/30,000 with a 4000 ante. One orbit would cost Hellmuth 81,000 chips, or 11% of his stack. It would leave him with 640,000 chips, which is only 21 big blinds or 8 rounds of play. Continuing PokerNews.com's description:
It should come as no suprise that Hellmuth starts Day 6 back at the main ESPN featured table...
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Just before the announcement of "shuffle up and deal," Hellmuth strolled into the tournament area and took his seat. He was dealt into the first hand which he raised from under the gun, winning the blinds and antes.
When a floor supervisor was asked about the alleged one-round penalty Hellmuth was to serve, a reply of "it's been overruled" was given.
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Many people were surprised when Phil Hellmuth sat down at the ESPN Featured Table and played the first hand of the day after receiving a one-round penalty for his behavior during the final hand of play last night.
When asked why Hellmuth was not sitting out, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told us, "The penalty has been overturned, and we will be issuing a formal statement shortly."
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The following statement was just released by the World Series of Poker regarding Phil Hellmuth's penalty, which was overturned at the start of play today:
"This morning Phil Hellmuth met with Jack Effel, WSOP Tournament Director, Howard Greenbaum, Harrah's Regional Vice President for Specialty Gaming, and Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the WSOP. Based on that meeting and an official review of the situation, it was decided that the penalty imposed on Mr. Hellmuth at the conclusion of play last night was excessive."
"Warnings and penalties are intended to correct inappropriate behavior and our rulings should be as fair as possible, given the circumstances," said Pollack. "In this instance, the punishment did not fit the crime."
"Phil has now been warned and put on notice in a way that he never has been," Pollack added.
Do you think that the penalty was overturned because of TV considerations? If you believe it was, do you think it is justified?
Tao of Poker writes:
ReplyDeleteThe Hellmuth saga continues...
I got confirmation that Hellmuth's appeal was based on two things...
1. It was an act for ESPN cameras.
2. He said that although he was given a warning many times before, it was always an idle threat and nothing every happened beyond that warning. He felt as though the timing of the penalty and that the lack of enforcement of previous warning was also justification for it to be overruled.
Jeffrey Pollack will be issuing a statement shortly.
I think it's bullshit about the reversal on the original ruling made by Steve Frezer. One orbit? It was peanuts. Hellmuth should have taken it like a man. And Harrah's should not have gotten involved. Why stir the pot on such a minor thing in an almost flawless WSOP main event? Talk about stepping in dogshit one block before you walk into church.
Harrah's dropped the ball there. Double standard? Hell yes. If that incident did not have a named pro or a celebrity like Hellmuth involved, the obnoxious out of line player would have been tossed much earlier. Guys like Scotty Nguyen and Hellmuth get away with being jackoffs for the cameras. By not enforcing the "excessive celebration" rule which they added this year, Harrah's is abiding by a double standard. They are pretty much saying that it's perfectly OK to do what you want. Act like an ass. As long as it is for the entertainment purposes.
Ah I forgot to write about the faux apology that Hellmuth made. He left the featured TV table and went to the outer tables to talk to Cristian Dragomir. They shook hands as ESPN cameras captured the moment. PR stunt? Or sincerity? If we could only peek into Hellmuth's mind to find out...
I also liked this comment from the 2+2 thread:
ReplyDeleteguy at my table on day 2 mucked his hand kinda hard and they hit at a funny angle and bounced off the table and he was given a 1 round penalty.
The Baltimore Sun and Harrah's Communication Director Seth Palansky weighted in on the issue:
ReplyDelete"You have to separate shtick from ill intent, and we found that with him it had nothing to do with ill intent," Palansky said "It's all about the psychological and the game of poker."
Perhaps, but just as Hellmuth had his last-chance warning, so has the World Series of Poker on the issue of favoritism and its TV superstars if it wants to retain its credibility on providing a level playing field.